New Census figures show the poverty rate in the Islands declined from 2004 to 2005, and the median household income climbed — even as social services providers say the homeless population is growing and more people are asking for help with food and housing.

The statistics released yesterday mirrored national trends, which show poverty decreased last year as wages rose. But officials with some organizations that serve the Islands' poor were skeptical of the Hawai'i figures, saying they fail to take into account the state's high cost of living and are based on outdated poverty thresholds.

For 2005, the Census Bureau said, an individual with an annual income of $9,973 or less was living in poverty. For a family of four, the level was $19,971 or less.

"When you use those numbers and you don't make any kind of adjustment for the cost of living in Hawai'i, it skews it too much," said Connie Mitchell, executive director of the Institute for Human Services, O'ahu's only emergency shelter.

The shelter has been filled to capacity for more than a year. Forty families are on a waiting list to get in. And on a typical night, some 20 women sleep on the floor of the garage because there are not enough beds.

Nationwide, 12.6 percent of Americans lived below the poverty threshold, according to 2005 Census statistics. The rate remained unchanged from 2004, ending a four-year trend of increasing poverty.

9.8% IMPOVERISHED

In the Islands, about 9.8 percent of residents lived below the poverty level, down from 10.6 percent in 2004. Six states had a lower poverty rate. The lowest rate — 7.5 percent — was in New Hampshire. The highest was in Mississippi, where 21.3 percent of residents live in poverty.

The Census statistics were part of the American Community Survey, which is conducted annually. The bureau polled 7,065 households in Hawai'i in 2005 for the report, which also discussed income levels and earnings by gender.

Eugene Tian, a research and statistics officer at the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said the state's decrease in poverty last year marked a "significant improvement."

Census statistics showed low poverty rates in Honolulu and Maui counties, where 9.4 percent and 6.5 percent of the population are living below the poverty threshold, respectively. The Big island had a 13.2 percent rate.

Susan Doyle, president and chief professional officer of the Aloha United Way, said the Census has long been criticized for the way it tracks poverty.

"Here, where our housing prices have skyrocketed, it doesn't really reflect self-sufficiency," Doyle said. "It just doesn't make sense. You really have to take these poverty statistics with a grain of salt."

Over the past few years, the nonprofit has seen a steady increase of requests for its services. In 2005, the United Way 211 hotline received 3,179 calls for housing assistance, and 3,163 calls for help getting food.

Sylvia Yuen, director of the University of Hawai'i Center on the Family, said the Census figures don't signal an across-the-board improvement in relieving poverty, but they do speak to a booming economy, which has led to a low unemployment rate and higher wages.

"On the other hand, housing has gone up and gasoline has gone up," Yuen said. "So you might be making more money, but your expenses have gone up."

The university's center is working to update a 2003 economic self-sufficiency report, which endeavors to determine how much income working families really need to get by.

She said in today's economy, two parents in the Islands with a preschooler and a school-age child need about $55,500 to make it.

"We're just talking the bare minimum," she said. "That doesn't leave them lots of money."

According to the Census survey, the median household income in the Islands hit $58,112 last year, an 8.5 percent increase from 2004. The median income was the fourth-highest in the nation, and $11,870 more than the nationwide median.

The survey also showed women in the Islands earn a median income of $32,305 — 78 percent of the median income for men. Nationwide, the median income for women is $32,168, about 76 percent of the median income for men, the report said.

FEWER UNINSURED

Also, a companion Census study released yesterday showed the percentage of Hawai'i residents without health insurance declined slightly from 2004.

In 2005, about 9.5 percent of the state's population did not have health insurance, compared to about 9.7 percent in 2003 and 2004. Nationally, about 15.7 percent of Americans had no health insurance in 2005.

Household income nationally rose from 2004 to 2005 for the first time since 1999, the Census Bureau reported. But earnings of full-time workers fell during that period, and incomes rose partly because there were more households in which a second adult joined the work force.

Democrats portrayed the report as evidence that the circumstances of many families had deteriorated under President Bush. "Our economy is moving in the wrong direction, and President Bush and the Republicans in Congress are woefully out of touch with this fact," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Rob Portman, Bush's budget director, had a different interpretation. He said the economy's ability to bounce back from the 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina a year ago "is a testament to the strong work ethic of the American people, the resilience of our economy and pro-growth economic policies, including tax relief."

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.